


The One Where They're Not Really Mad At Each Other

by hufflepuffingdemigod



Category: The Unwanteds Series - Lisa McMann
Genre: Alexheed - Freeform, I hate this with a passion, M/M, but I'm posting it anyway, here, read my garbage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:28:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28693236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hufflepuffingdemigod/pseuds/hufflepuffingdemigod
Summary: what the title says
Relationships: Alex Stowe/Samheed Burkesh
Kudos: 3





	The One Where They're Not Really Mad At Each Other

"And Mr. Appleblossom gave him the main role! Him! Instead of me! I was way better, and my audition was super good, and now I have to play his best friend! Instead of HIM!"

"Mm," Alex hummed. He smiled softly. There was a sense of calm despite Sam's ranting, and Sam was running a hand through Alex's hair as he spoke, so really, was it Alex's fault he wasn't quite paying a hundred percent attention?

One good thing about being Head Mage and having an apartment in the mostly-secret-hallway was that barely anyone could criticize him for letting Samheed abandon his own room and sleep at Alex's nearly every night.

Actually, no one bothered to, usually. Although Simber did occasionally grumble when Alex came downstairs with Sam, both looking slightly dishevelled. Florence just laughingly told Simber to avert his eyes and pretend he didn't see them.

"Sure, Mr. Appleblossom said it was just because I can't be the lead in everything-," Samheed continued furiously. Alex frowned as Sam pulled a strand of hair with unnecessary vigour. "-and I have to give other people a chance, but it's still not okay! I was better- he even said I was better!"

"Uh-huh." Another vague noise of affirmation.

Samheed rolled backwards to face Alex, extricating his face from where it had been buried in the crook of Alex's neck. "And you are not listening to me at all."

Ouch. That was uncalled for. Alex was listening- well, half-listening, rather. He could hear everything, he just wasn't . . . comprehending, registering it.

He defended himself anyway. "Yeah, I am!"

Samheed looked skeptical.

"You said- um, Mr. Appleblossom! And, erm, you're better!"

Samheed made a noise of disgust and, as a form of revenge, scooted away, rolling over so his back was to Alex, about a foot away.

Alex cursed inwardly. And then waited. Expectantly. Patiently.

The moon-and-star-light gleamed on Sam's bare shoulders.

After a moment passed, Sam grudgingly shuffled backwards to be hugged.

There was something nice, Alex reflected, about hugging someone from behind. You could bury your face in their shoulder, and they were so warm and solid and there. It was nice to be hugged from behind too, though sometimes slightly startling if you weren't expecting it.

Alex hugged Sam, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's broad back. It was pretty adorable, he decided, that Sam would, no matter how annoyed, always enjoy a hug.

Good grief, Stowe, he then thought. You're cracking up.

Adorable was not a word one would often, if ever, use to describe Samheed. Surly, yes. Gruff, perhaps. Handsome and strong-willed and hot-headed? Definitely. Adorable?

Samheed made a little noise and laced his fingers through Alex's.

Okay. Maybe.

Truly, though, the reason Samheed liked to be hugged or held or just touched in some way- holding hands in the lounge, or a quick embrace before a rehearsal- was probably his time on Warbler. He simply needed that assurance that someone was there. In which case, Alex was taking advantage of Samheed's definitive dependency on human contact.

But really, who better to be that reassuring touch than Alex? Samheed's boyfriend?

Besides, it was a mutual advantage-taking. Alex could easily admit that he was the sort of person who thrived off cuddles and loved hugs and kisses. So this benefited both of them.

Samheed shifted backwards even closer to Alex, pushing himself flush against him, fingers still twined together. Alex could feel every line of Samheed's broad back, each groove and divot of muscle and spine. And then Alex stopped thinking about how adorable Sam was, and had the crashing realization that he was . . . incredibly gorgeous. And also Alex's boyfriend.

Upon this thought entering his head, Alex was struck with an overwhelming urge to plant a little kiss right in the crook of Samheed's neck. As he leaned forward to do this, however, Samheed shuffled away.

Alex froze.

Slowly, carefully, he craned his neck forward, and- Samheed kicked him in the shin.

"Ow," Alex muttered. "What the heck, Burkesh?" Grumbling mutinously, Alex came to the crushing conclusion that Samheed Burkesh was an evil, evil person.

~X~

The next day, Samheed was still, unfairly, pretending to be mad.

He was no longer accepting kisses, or even hugs, and wouldn't let Alex hold his hand. He just kept an aloof expression on his face and refused to look at his slightly forlorn boyfriend.

This was a cruel and unusual punishment, honestly, and extremely unjust, if you asked Alex. But no one did.

After being spurned in the lounge- eliciting a snicker from Lani and a raised eyebrow from Sky- and slighted in the theatre, Alex decided that two could play at this game.

To Meghan's consternation and insistence that they were both idiots, and what were they even fighting about, really, Alex began quite simply pretending that any seat with Samheed in it was empty. Though he wouldn't admit it, Alex was bothered when Samheed didn't react, as he was pretending that any seat with Alex in it was empty.

This went on all day, drawing mild curiosity from Florence, and a shuddering snort from Simber as Alex walked into a wall because he was pretending not to be watching Sam out of the corner of his eye. While nurturing his bruised ego, more than his bruised shoulder, Alex secretly hoped Samheed might at least snicker at him. But, instead, Sam ignored this as well with supreme superiority. Curse him.

Meghan expressed her disdain for their ridiculousness loudly and determinedly, and so Alex began ignoring her too. Samheed did as well, and she marched off in a huff, muttering something about stupid boys.

As the day came to a close, Alex and Sam were to be found sitting on opposite sides of the booth in the lounge. As the rest of their friends bantered and laughed, while awkwardly ignoring the tension between the two dolts, Alex, though he would never admit it, thought that he'd rather miss Sam later, when he'd have no one to hug as he slept.

However, he was to be surprised when Sam marched his way straight into the not-secret-hallway after dinner, barged into the connecting bathroom, stayed in there for nearly ten minutes, emerged with his pyjama bottoms on, shirt folded in hand, teeth brushed, face washed, hair combed, and eyes completely blind to Alex's utter confusion. Samheed ignored Alex, plopped himself down on Alex's bed, turned his back on Alex, hogged Alex's pillow, and, within seconds, was pretending to be asleep.

Alex blinked at him.

Then he shook his head, went into his bathroom, scrubbed his teeth, brushed and braided his long, dark hair so it wouldn't tangle too much, fastened it with a stretchy band, and walked back into his room. He climbed into his bed, didn't bother retrieving his pillow from Samheed, turned away from his boyfriend, and attempted to achieve sleep.

He thought he heard Sam punch the pillow.

~X~

"For the love of- Alex!"

"What?" Alex scowled. Meghan glowered at him- for good reason, she thought. The ridiculous spat between him and Samheed was creating tension in the group.

Alex didn't really see why it was such a big deal- he knew Sam wasn't actually mad at him, and he knew that he wasn't actually mad at Sam.

"Can you two please make up?" Meghan asked. "What is going on between you?"

Alex looked at her, now befuddled. "What do you mean? Nothing's going on, Meggy."

She scoffed. "You're clearly furious with each other! Is there any way I can help, Al?"

Alex stared at her. Did she not realize that they weren't actually angry? Did she not see that it was just a silly joke?

"Meg, we're not mad at each other. We're just being doofuses."

Meg was quiet for so long that Alex started worrying he may have broken her. Then she burst out, "You're not angry with each other? It's just a joke? We've all been worried sick about you two!"

Alex squelched a grin in the face of his best friend's beration. He knew it would do him no good to laugh.

"Don't you dare laugh at me, Alexander Stowe." Meghan pointed a warning finger at Alex. He shook with restrained mirth. Finally, Meghan relented and began laughing as well. "Well then, Al," she snorted undignifiedly. "I think you should, erm, pretend to make up now. It's really killing the mood, you two being so weird. Joke or not."

She glared firmly at him, mouth still twitching.

After a long moment of being stared down, Alex flushed. "Alright, alright! Jeez!"

Meghan broke into peals of laughter.

~X~

Alex winced as he tripped on nothing in particular, and froze. Thank goodness, the grass of the lawn stifled any noise.

He snuck forward, eyes locked on his target- Samheed, pacing aimlessly around the edge of the lawn. Alex stopped walking for a moment and just watched his boyfriend, his lips quirking into a smile as he noticed Sam's mouth moving and his hands waving at his sides. He was talking to himself. He did that often when he was writing scenes- he couldn't just think the scene: he had to live it. He claimed that talking made dialogues flow more naturally, and making faces helped find descriptive words for emotions. He gesticulated when he talked, too. He simply couldn't seem to help it.

Alex personally thought Samheed didn't even notice that he was muttering lines as they popped into his head- it just happened.

Whatever the case, it was very cute. If a little odd.

Alex shook his head and continued forward. Samheed was so lost in whatever he was writing that he wouldn't notice if a whole fleet of ships appeared on the horizon. Without meaning to, Alex glanced at the line where the water met the sky. Just making sure.

Samheed's back was to his boyfriend, so he let out a shout when Alex flopped his arms unceremoniously on Sam's broad shoulders. Then Sam realized who the arms draped over him belonged to, and shook his head.

"Good grief, Stowe. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

There was a silence. Alex could almost see Samheed's face wincing as he realized what he'd said.

"Sorry," he muttered gruffly.

Alex nodded into his shoulder. "'S'okay. Glad you're not ignoring me anymore."

Samheed froze. Then he didn't respond.

"Oh, for the love of-" Alex groaned. "Look, I'm sorry."

No response. "Sorry!"

Samheed turned his head, looking out over the water pointedly.

"So-ooo-orry . . .!" Alex sang. He felt Samheed's shoulders shake with silent, repressed laughter. "So-oorry, Sammy-yyy!" Alex warbled.

Samheed let out a short bark of laughter. Alex grinned triumphantly. "Knew you could hear me," he teased.

"Hmph," Samheed grumbled. "What are you sorry for, Stowe?"

Alex decided to play along. "I'm sorry for only half-listening to you."

"Alright," Samheed grouched. He relaxed. Then the feeling in the air changed again- even without seeing his face, Alex could tell that Sam was wearing a scheming expression. He groaned inwardly.

"What did you learn from this experience, Stowe?" Samheed asked aloofly.

"That you're petty?" Alex ribbed, grinning.

"No."

"That you're a big jerk?"

"No!"

"That you're impossible and unreasonable?"

"Look, if you're not going to take this seriously, Stowe, I can just-"

"No!" Alex laughed. He could tell that Sam was grinning despite himself. "Fine. I learned that half-listening isn't enough for Samheed Burkesh. Samheed Burkesh requires everyone's full attention at all times!"

"Darn right I do," Samheed muttered.

"Drama queen," Alex grumbled.

"Did you just call me a drama queen?" Samheed craned his neck, trying to look at his boyfriend skeptically.

"Maybe?" Alex hesitated.

"Well, you'd be right."

"At least you admit it," laughed Alex.

They both grinned.

~X~

That night, they went to dinner holding hands and determinedly not looking at each other. Their friends were already sitting in their usual seats in the dining room, and Meghan began shaking with silent laughter upon seeing them.

Alex flushed.

Simber eyed them both with that special contemptuousness only a cat can master.

~X~


End file.
